Aaron Judge is back and so are the Yankees.
The slumping slugger came through with a game-winning, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday in a 2-0 win over Tampa Bay on a wet, chilly day in The Bronx.
The Yankees entered having dropped three straight- and scoring a total of three runs in that stretch — with Judge in the midst of a 1-for-24 funk.
But Trent Grisham led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Max Schuemann.
Judge followed with an opposite-field shot off Kevin Kelly to end it, as the Yankees cut the Rays’ lead atop the AL East over the Yankees to 4 ½ games.
The Yankees got seven scoreless innings from Ryan Weathers, as the left-hander bounced back from a tough start against Toronto.
Weathers was locked in a duel with Tampa Bay right-hander Drew Rasmussen, who also pitched seven shutout innings after blanking the Yankees for six innings on April 12.
After Weathers stranded Nick Fortes following a one-out double in the second, Tampa Bay threatened again in the third, with runners on the corners and one out.
Weathers responded by getting Junior Caminero to hit into an inning-ending double play.
The left-hander allowed just a pair of walks the rest of the way, as Weathers tossed seven scoreless innings before being replaced by Fernando Cruz to start the eighth.
Cruz gave up a one-out double to Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda followed with a liner to right-center, where Judge made a great diving catch.
An intentional walk to Caminero led to Ryan Vilade’s single to left.
Pinch-runner Oliver Dunn seemed set to score the go-ahead run, but Cody Bellinger alertly threw to third base in time to get Caminero at third before Dunn was able to get to the plate, so the game remained scoreless.
Tim Hill walked Fortes with one out in the ninth, but Taylor Walls’ bunt went right to Paul Goldschmidt and the first baseman got the force at second.
A Cedric Mullins single extended the inning for Richie Palacios, who struck out.
The Yankees won it in the bottom of the inning for just their fifth win in 15 games.
Prior to the game, Aaron Boone said, “It’s been a crappy couple weeks for us, result-wise, but I feel like we’re in a good place team-wise. I feel we have a good run in us here.”
Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers (40) walks back to the dugout after ending the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium, Sunday, May 24, 2026,
Their drop in the standings has been the result of an offense that had was 25th in the majors in runs scored since May 8.
“We lost some tough games,’’ Boone said of the stretch. “I feel we played well in some of it and actually had some tough losses.”
It started with a three-game sweep in Milwaukee to the first-place Brewers, followed by a series loss in Baltimore.
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They then dropped two of three to the Mets at Citi Field and split four games against Toronto after winning the first two games of that series.
Boone said the Yankees “hit a stretch where we didn’t swing the bats great” before the Mets series, when he “thought we played really well.”
After Sunday at the Stadium, they have three games starting Monday in Kansas City, followed by three more in Sacramento against the A’s.
“We’ve been a little up and down offensively through this stretch,” Boone said. “We’ve had a couple heartbreaking losses and a win just got away from us [against the Mets]. Overall, we’ve got to be a little bit better, a little more consistent offensively. I do feel good about where we are and what our mindset is. I’m waiting for us to hit that good run… We’re in a place where there’s no reason we can’t stop ripping off wins.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
